A life spent on the water

Hu Zhenlai has lived on the water all her life. At the end of the ‘80s, she moved with her family from the Hongze Lake in Jiangsu province to catch fish on the Yangtze river. Now her son has followed his father’s footsteps and became a fisherman. But the number of fish in the Yangtze is declining, in part due to water pollution. This spring, only two out of Yanglingang’s six large boats have made a profit catching saury. Those who rely primarily on fishing are all living in impoverished conditions, with only their boats and no houses on land. Hu Zhenlai spends her days on the boat taking care of her grandson, who attends school.